Friday, August 14, 2020

Eagle takes down a drone

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bald-eagle-takes-down-michigan-government-drone-n1236687?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

 

The bird of prey attacked the Phantom 4 Pro Advanced quodcopter drone about 162 feet in the sky on July 21, "tearing off a propeller and sending the aircraft to the bottom of Lake Michigan," according to the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

"The attack could have been a territorial squabble with the electronic foe, or just a hungry eagle," the department said.

 * * *

I flew along some cliffs taking video, and when I reviewed the video, there were 2 hawks sitting in a tree close to where I was headed.  Apparently they weren't bothered much by my quadcopter.

 

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Secret spy drone plan cancelled, revealed

 https://www.yahoo.com/news/cia-built-nuclear-bird-drone-124500313.html

 

The aircraft was originally based on the characteristics of large, loitering birds, but this changed in time to include actual bird-like characteristics. The CIA described Aquiline as a “small, bird-like surreptitious vehicle with sufficiently small acoustic, visible, and radar cross section to permit it to operate in the natural physical signal environment of living birds.” Radars and human sentries at sensitive sites would mistake Aquiline for a bird and pay little attention to it.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Terrorist shoots at police drone

https://imgur.com/gallery/04doU5L

In the afternoon, the police sent a drone to the bus. The man opened fire, trying to shoot down a police drone flying over a hostage bus.

Thursday, June 18, 2020

drones for libraries!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/10/wing-library-book-drone-delivery/

Heyde, whose mom is a librarian, noted that Wing had already brought on more local merchants during the pandemic, and the company wanted to help kids get books as well.
Passek began pushing for book delivery last fall as soon as she saw how quickly her Wing orders were being flown to her house. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and her cause became more immediate.

* * *

Sounds good.  Will they drop the books on the kids directly?

Saturday, May 30, 2020

drones for medical delivery

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/29/drone-deliveries-soar-in-rural-scotland-during-coronavirus-outbreak

The 16km (10 mile) flight from Lorn and Islands district general hospital in Oban, on the mainland, to Mull and Iona community hospital in Craignure, on the east of the island, takes about 15 minutes compared with between 90 minutes to six hours by road and ferry.
Whiston said the two-week drone delivery trial, which is being run in partnership with drone operator Skyports and defence and technology company Thales, was planned before coronavirus struck but has been accelerated by the pandemic.
A second test this winter is crucial because “the Scottish weather can be very challenging”, says Whitson. If it’s successful he thinks drones could be deployed across NHS Scotland. “We would look to link up more of our islands,” he said. “And we have been sharing what we’re doing here with colleagues across Scotland, and there is significant interest about using it in the Western Isles, Clyde and the Grampians.”

* * * *

I think drones are finally finding their place in the world.

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Don't shoot down drones

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/05/minnesota-man-faces-felony-charges-for-shooting-down-drone/

"Two employees approached the man and asked him what he was doing. Soon afterwards, someone else shot the drone out of the sky. The man says his drone cost $1,900.
The authorities arrested 34-year-old Travis Duane Winters and charged him in Watonwan County District Court, The Free Press says. Officials say Winters admitted to shooting the drone. He faces charges of criminal damage to property and reckless discharge of a weapon within city limits"

Let the police handle it.

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Drones fight fire

https://youtu.be/WFqThcMIN7A

Using huge-ass drones with hoses to put out a fire.